John Guernsey installed as first bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic in the Anglican Church in North America

UPDATED: With great thanks to Anglican TV, here is the investiture of the new bishop of the ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic at Truro Church in Fairfax, VA:




Live from the Investiture of the Rt. Rev’d John Guernsey as the first bishop of the ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic at Truro Church, Fairfax, VA.

Bishop John Guernsey and his wife, the Rev'd Meg Guernsey.

The service began with a joyous celebration of hymns and songs led by a joint choir made up of members of the new diocese. People are not phoning in their singing, any minute now the roof could pop off. This is awesome!

We're here at Truro Church in Fairfax and the church is packed with very joyful people. The new Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) diocese enters the ACNA as the largest diocese. It spans the area of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Last May, the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) Synod elected the Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey as the bishop of the proposed ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. In June, the ACNA's Provincial Council affirmed the creation of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. Bishop John Guernsey who had been overseeing the congregations that had separated from The Episcopal Church and moved under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Church of Uganda before transitioning directly to the ACNA, was confirmed as the first diocesan bishop by the ACNA College of Bishops in June.

Bishop Guernsey was the rector of All Saints, Dale City, VA. All Saints separated from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in the spring of 2006 in an amicable settlement that permitted them to remain in their property until the completion of the building of a new church. The settlement had been meant to be a prototype for the other congregations to follow in the development of the Diocese of Virginia's Protocol for Departing Congregations. The protocol was abruptly abandoned by the Diocese following the installment of Katharine Jefferts Schori as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, about six months after All Saints left the Episcopal Church.

All Saints will be officially moving into their new church later this month and will also serve as the office for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

John Guernsey at 2003 General Convention.

Prior to his consecration as a bishop in 2007 by Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi (who also incidentally consecrated the Rt. Rev'd Sandy Millar, former rector of Holy Trinity Brompton in London) Bishop Guernsey served in leadership posts in the Diocese of Virginia, serving as a Deputy to six General Conventions where he served in different posts including chairman of the Evangelism Committee.

I first met John Guernsey at the 1994 General Convention in Indianapolis, working closely with IRD President Diane Knippers and Pittsburgh General Convention Deputy Jim Simons. I remember at the Philadelphia General Convention in 1997 I testified at the Evangelism Committee that John was chairing on a resolution that was calling for a doctrinal change on the trinity. I read the resolution and recognized that, as a former member of the Christian Science Church, the new doctrine would have been quite at home in Christian Science. In my testimony I pointed out the similarities between the new doctrinal change and Christian Science and wondered why I had gone through all the trouble of "kneeling before my bishop to become an Episcopalian" only to find myself back in Christian Science right in the Episcopal Church!  Why should I have left in the first place?

I also remember going back to my seat when a rather moderate bishop sitting across the aisle from me leaned over and said that he too grew up in Christian Science and appreciated the point. I was still trying to get my heart from stop beating so fiercely, I had been so nervous and close to terrified and the affirmation from an unexpected quarter brought me great relief. I was very grateful to John Guernsey for the opportunity to speak at General Convention.  Of course, I had no idea then that it was only the beginning.


Back to Truro: ACNA Archbishop and Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Bob Duncan is the preacher. He is saying from the pulpit that this is a historic moment in this historic place. I will try to type as he speaks:

We all recall that Anglicanism was brought permanently to these shores not so very far from here … in 1607. We also recall that not quite 200 years later … Anglicanism was organized so that it might be prosper and go forward in this land. And 200 years after that it might be reorganized, much of it in this place. …. God is doing something great, behold all things new …”

This is a historic moment for Anglicanism … throughout the globe. We represent not a little of that in our own persons in this place.

This is also an amazing personal moment. The fulfilment of God’s plan for three leaders. John and Martyn and I were candidates for bishop (NOTE: for the Diocese of Colorado) and it was during that time that they formed friendships that continue to this day.

Twenty-one years later I stand here as an Archbishop, Martyn now resides in the U.K. as Executive Secretary for the Global Anglican Future Conference Movement and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and John here as the first bishop of this diocese.

This diocese represents such a maturing in such a short time of this movement, but as it comes together – it’s the largest diocese in the movement at its birth. That is because of God’s favor and because of the faithfulness of all of you who stood in these days, who stood shoulder to shoulder not just those who are ordained but very much shoulder with the laity in this region.

Bishop John Guernsey becomes the bishop of the new diocese.

It is very moving to look over and see faces of many folks who have walked this long journey for the past five years and for many even more years. It is not clear yet if we will be displaced from our church homes as litigation continues between the churches that voted to separate from the Diocese of Virginia under the Protocol for Departing Congregations and The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia. The second round of briefs are due next week, followed by a third round in October. In November or early December there will be one more opportunity for oral arguments when the Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows will present his questions to the Episcopal and Virginia churches' counsels. Some time after that  that one-day oral Q&A, the judge will release his opinion.

A new day.

Kevin Kallsen from Anglican TV is present and once he has his video of the installation up I will post it here. I ran into old friend now Bishop Neil Lebhar who was serving communion. He is a former Associate Rector of Truro and now bishop for the ACNA's diocese that includes Florida. Years ago when he was still at Truro he was in charge of the Truro Young Adults. I was in my mid 20's back then and I remember asking exactly how did you know if you were a young adult? Neil said "Anyone younger than me."

In fact, it is exciting to look out and see the young church planters and new leadership rising up, all ready building and rebuilding on the foundations not just of recent years - but on the foundation of those Anglicans who sailed to the Virginia shores four hundred years ago.  As those early settlers experienced their own triumphs and great challenges, this new diocese will know such a story as well.   What will this next chapter in our lives together bring?  How will we discern what should change and what should remain?  How will we stand firm for the Gospel of Jesus while making peace with our neighbors?  One way comes to mind, which I think was overflowing today and that is in gratitude.  Whatever happens, may we be grateful.  There is so much to be grateful for, so much.

We may not know what will happen by this time next year, but what comes to mind now is one of the songs we sang at the service today and it becomes a prayer tonight:

BREAKING NEWS: John Guernsey elected to lead new Anglican Diocese based in Virginia - The Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic in the ANCA

The Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey was elected this morning by lay and clergy delegates representing the congregations of the new Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic to be their diocesan bishop.  Meeting in a special Constitutional Convention by the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) at Church of the Epiphany in Herndon, VA.  Bishop Guernsey was elected on the first ballot.

Bishop Guernsey, who was the long-time rector of All Saints Dale City and a leader in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia serving as Deputy to General Convention for many years until his parish voted to separate from the Episcopal Church in 2006, outlined his vision for the new diocese:

Having served in Northern Virginia for all of my ordained ministry, I have a deep commitment to the work of the Kingdom in this region. I have long prayed for the Lord to move in power to renew and heal His Church, that we might reach the lost with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. The formation of this new diocese is the Lord’s doing and I believe that I am called to be a part of it.

I envision a diocese that is prayer-based and mission-focused; a diocese of congregations that are growing and multiplying, served by clergy who are walking in faith and holiness; a diocese that is passionate to reach the lost and the next generations, discipling new believers to maturity in the Word; a diocese that joyfully worships the living Lord and is transformed by His power.

Support of Clergy and Congregations
I am committed to the pastoral support of clergy and their families. I presently serve a non-geographical diocese spread across the country and it is a challenge to stay in touch. I regularly phone the clergy, I pray each day for them, I connect by email. My wife always travels with me, and we love to spend time with the clergy and their spouses and children.

In this diocese, I would continue those important links, but I would also make it a priority to meet monthly with the clergy for worship, to study the Scriptures, to share our concerns and pray for one another. I would expect to meet with several groupings across the large area of the diocese. I would help create ways for our clergy and their families to support and care and pray for one another.

My parish visitations are usually over a full weekend, which creates opportunities for teaching and discipleship, fellowship and encouragement. I come to a congregation to serve and I ask the clergy to offer a plan for how best to use the visitation to support them in the Lord’s work in that place. I love opportunities to teach the Scriptures, to talk with and counsel the leadership team, to get to know the congregation and to pray for them.

The Church’s Mission
The Anglican Church in North America is clear in its Constitution that “the fundamental agency of mission in the Province is the local congregation.” That means that the diocese exists to serve the churches, not the reverse. The work of mission is the responsibility of the clergy and people of our congregations. The role of this new diocese is to support and encourage and to do those things the congregations cannot.

Together, as the congregations and clergy, we will reach the lost, and we will do that, first, through personal evangelistic witness. It is not enough to be part of a mission-minded Province or diocese or congregation if we are not ourselves sharing the Gospel with those we know.

We will plant churches of all sorts and descriptions, using new models and methods, as well as tried and true ones. We will grow and give birth to new dioceses.

We will reach the nations. Our links with the Global South have given us a new vision for Kingdom partnerships around the world. We must engage in the task of presenting Christ to unreached peoples across the globe and here at home. The proximity of our nation’s capital is also part of God’s calling to us—how does He want us to use that opportunity for Gospel witness?

Personal Discipleship
We will be people of the Word. We proclaim biblical authority, but each of us must be deeply rooted in the Scriptures through personal reading and meditating on the Word and through disciplined study.

We will be faithful disciples, who will demonstrate to the world what it looks like to be the people of God. We will disciple others, raising up the next generations in Christ.

We will seek the healing of the Lord for our own lives, walking in greater holiness and purity. We will be quick to give testimony to His grace and mercy and transforming power.

We will worship the Lord with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. We will offer ourselves before Him in the beauty of holiness. Worship through the richness of our Anglican heritage will glorify the Lord and it will invite others to come to know Him.

We will be faithful stewards in our finances. We will proclaim the joy and freedom that is found in trusting the Lord through tithing.

Seeking God’s Vision
I take very seriously the warning in Jeremiah 23 about the false shepherds and prophets, who “speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord...But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?” (verses 16, 18). God judges those who claim to speak for Him without first having come before Him in prayer.

Yet the Lord promises to reveal Himself to those who seek His face. “But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people” (verse 22).

If I am called to this new diocese, I know the Lord would have much more to say to me and to all of us about His will and plan. It would be my responsibility and my joy to lead us in seeking Him and His vision for our life together.

My life verse is 2 Corinthians 4:5: “We seek not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” May the Lord give me and all of us the grace to walk humbly before Him, doing all for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord.

In addition, he answered questions posed to him by the ADV:

Background
Bishop, Diocese of the Holy Spirit of the Anglican Church in North America

Education
Yale University (New Haven, CT) B.A. (Magna Cum Laude), History, with Honors Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge, MA) M.Div., Biblical Studies

Spiritual Autobiography

I grew up in a Christian home and, through the witness of my parents, gave my life to Christ as a very young boy. My father modeled putting one’s faith into practice in the world; he was deeply committed to racial reconciliation and the church’s ministry among those in need. My mother taught me about prayer; I remember a time when I was upset over something in my homework I couldn’t seem to grasp, and she showed me how to pray it through. I knew that I belonged to Christ and I readily told people that when I grew up I was going to be what Jesus wanted me to be—though I didn’t yet know what that was.

As a teenager active in the church, I was hungry for more of the Lord. But I was aware that I didn’t see lives being changed in our parish or its youth group in which I was actively involved. I hadn’t been taught the Scriptures and so my longing for the supernatural reality of God led me to explore a number of inappropriate spiritual practices we’d now term “New Age.” I wasn’t rejecting Jesus, but I lacked guidance and discernment to seek Him rightly through the Holy Spirit.

During high school, I volunteered in many different ministries, particularly in the inner city. In college, I chose an urban studies major as a way of pursuing my desire to work with the poor, perhaps through a career in government service. After my sophomore year, however, I won a competitive internship, working for a summer as the aide to the administrator of the entire welfare and social service department of the City of New York. It was a terribly disillusioning experience. I came away knowing that God needed people in that environment, but I was not called to be one of them.

With my career goal now unclear, I decided to take time off from college; I had extra credits and could have graduated in three years, but I felt I needed clarity of direction first. I accepted an invitation from an Episcopal layman from Liberia, West Africa to come to his country and do economic planning for the Liberian government. My letter to my contact confirming my plans was lost in the mail, so the government job wasn’t arranged and I ended up being put to work for one of his companies, the Carrier Air Conditioner distributorship. I had a tremendous amount of the time alone to think and pray and reflect, and through it the Lord finally got through to me that He was calling me to ordained ministry. When I finally said “yes” to Him, I had an amazing certainty and a  peace that this was His will. He then made it clear that my time in Liberia was at an end and that I should return home to finish college and go through the ordination process.

At the conclusion of my final interview before seminary, I was asked by the committee if I had any questions to ask them. I said that I did and asked this: “Why is it that we pray to God the Father through God the Son and seem to leave God the Holy Spirit out of it completely?” It was the question of a naïve 20-year old, but it made the committee very uncomfortable. Finally, one member said, “Well, it sounds like you’ve asked a good question. Maybe when you go to seminary you’ll learn the answer and come back and tell us.”

I went off to the seminary my bishop had attended and wanted me to attend, but by this time it had become a very, very liberal place. By God’s grace, I went in believing in the bodily resurrection of Jesus and came out believing it. But I didn’t learn the answer to my question about the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t, of course, simply asking an abstract question about liturgy, but about the supernatural reality of God the Holy Spirit. What I learned instead was that the Holy Spirit was controversial. I was told very clearly that there were people out there who were “into” the Holy Spirit but we were not among them and that I should not expect God to do today what I saw Him doing in the pages of Scripture.

I did, however, meet my wife, Meg, in seminary, without a doubt the best thing that came out of the experience for me! She was from Virginia and so it was that we came here after seminary, she to serve a parish in Culpeper, while I worked at Christ Church in Alexandria.

One of my duties was to assist the lay stewardship chairman, which the Lord used to begin a process of transformation of my use of money. A wise priest I met challenged me to tithe and Meg and I, after much discussion and prayer, began to do so. We discovered a new joy in trusting the Lord and a freedom from anxiety about money and possessions that we’d never known before. It turned out that money had been a logjam in my spiritual life—breaking free in the area of finances resulted in a greater openness to God’s work in my life in other ways, as well.

In December, 1981, I was called to serve as Vicar of All Saints’, then a mission of 36 families worshiping in Triangle, near the Quantico Marine base. The guidance I’d received in seminary to put the Holy Spirit aside did not, to say the least, satisfy the longing that I had for more of the Lord. I began to hear testimonies from clergy and mature lay leaders about the working of the Spirit in their lives. I had much to learn and many theological questions to ask. But finally, the Lord in His goodness led me to the place of a deeper surrender to Him than ever before. I asked one of the godly lay leaders to lay hands on me and pray for the fullness and power of God’s Holy Spirit to fill me.

While the prayer time itself was quite unemotional, the Lord who is ever faithful began from that moment to work in me and through me in ways I’d only yearned for. I developed a passion for the Scriptures. I found a new fervency in prayer and a new intimacy in worship. In my ministry, I saw new power as I shared Jesus. As much as I wanted people to come to know Christ, I had not led anyone to faith in Him in four years of ordained ministry. After I received that empowering of the Holy Spirit, people began to respond to sermons and teaching by coming into my office, falling on their knees and asking to give their lives to Christ. Nothing in seminary had prepared me for that!

The Lord began to give me a greater love for prayer, for evangelism and for the healing ministry, three priorities which have been central to my ministry for the past 28 years. In these areas I again had much to learn and He blessed me with colleagues on staff at All Saints’ who could teach me many things. What a joy to be a part of God’s transforming work in people’s lives. How exciting to be in a parish where that transformation is the norm rather than the exception. And I’ve been privileged to be sent out on many short-term missions with SOMA, training leaders in the power of the Spirit in a number of countries around the world. God has also done His gracious healing work in my own life, freeing me from the hurts of the past to be more the pastor and husband and father He made me to be.

In our family, the Lord gave us many blessings of His love. He gave us two fine sons, who attended St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, where Meg had gone in 1979 to serve as Chaplain. Meg’s mother, physically disabled all her life but a spiritual powerhouse, came to live with us for the last 20 years of her life. Both our sons are now married, and they and their wives are all walking with the Lord. Our elder son, Nathaniel, is a computer science engineer and he and his wife, Mandy, are youth ministry volunteers. Our younger son, Michael, is in seminary preparing for ordination and he and his wife, Tracy, are praying about a long-term missionary call to Uganda.

The call to serve as bishop has been a surprising journey. Twenty years ago I was nominated to be Bishop of Colorado (along with two priests named Bob Duncan and Martyn Minns!). When I wasn’t elected, the Lord spoke clearly to me that I was to stay at All Saints’ and so I declined to be considered in dozens of episcopal elections after that. In December, 2006, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda elected me to be their Bishop for Congregations in America—without consulting me, I might add—though they delayed notifying me or announcing it publicly until the following June. I was consecrated in September, 2007 and given the responsibility to look after the then 26 U.S.

congregations of the Church of Uganda, while continuing to serve as rector of All Saints’. (The number of churches grew to 53 in June, 2009 when, at the launch of the Anglican Church in North America, the Ugandan House of Bishops transferred me and all their U.S. clergy and congregations into the ACNA.)

Meanwhile, Meg had been told by the Lord in August, 2006 that the coming academic year was to be her last at the School. The Lord didn’t tell her any more than that, but in obedience she went to the headmistress and said, “This is my last year.” Her last faculty meeting was just days before I was informed I’d been elected bishop, and so she has been free to travel with me. We’ve followed a more African model of the bishop and his wife together as we’ve visited churches across the country. Serving in this way has been a gift from the Lord to us. Meg has such a heart for clergy spouses and children and it has been so very important to us to spend time with our clergy and their families.

Early in my ministry, the Lord gave me a verse to guide my life and service of him: “We preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). I constantly pray that the ministry I offer will always be a ministry of servanthood, seeking only to glorify Jesus Christ.

Here he answers questions:

Questions

Why would God be calling you to be Bishop of this new diocese?
I don’t presume to know God’s will and God’s reasons! But I do feel increasingly called to serve the Lord and His Church in this new diocese. I would hope that I could help establish the diocese as prayer-based and mission- focused. I would also hope to contribute to the continuing healing from all that we experienced in our former context.

Describe your leadership style as Bishop: how you relate to clergy and laity; what you think and have done about missions; how you feel about raising money?
I have developed a pattern of multi-day visitations to churches (usually a full weekend), with opportunities for teaching, fellowship, meeting with the leadership and spending time with the clergy and their families. Meg and I always prefer to stay in homes, often with the clergy. I go to serve the church, to teach, listen and encourage.

I have a high priority of ministering to clergy and their families. I telephone the clergy regularly to check in and to pray for them. I am always looking for emerging leaders, particularly those of the next generation, to encourage and disciple.

I am committed to continuing to engage in front-line mission work personally. In 2010, Meg and I spent a week in a remote, desert area of Kenya, working with a large team of mostly young evangelists who were on mission planting churches among unreached peoples. This sort of experience always stretches me and encourages me to keep the proclamation of the Gospel at the forefront of everything I do. In my preaching I seek to spur the church to engage in mission and evangelism and I often invite those who do not yet know the Lord to surrender their lives to Him.

Dealing with stewardship has been a priority in ministry and a significant part of my own journey in Christ. I teach biblical stewardship and readily witness to the blessing of tithing in our own family. I taught financial stewardship at Virginia Seminary for 12 years, as a consultant in dozens of dioceses and congregations, and most especially at All Saints’ Church in Dale City.
To what degree are you committed to the Anglican 1000 church planting initiative? Describe your church planting experience.

I am tremendously excited by the vision of planting 1000 churches in the first five years of the Anglican Church in North America. I assisted in the planning for the first Anglican1000 summit and was greatly encouraged by it. I scheduled the Diocese of the Holy Spirit’s 2011 Annual Synod immediately prior to the second Anglican1000 Summit and at the same venue in order to encourage our diocesan leaders to participate in the Summit. I will also be attending the Exponential Church Planting Conference in Orlando this April.

My former parish, All Saints’ Church in Dale City, planted Christ Our Lord Church in Lake Ridge, one of the most important mission experiences we ever had. I have promoted church planting in our diocese and visited and encouraged those new starts already underway. We have new lay-led fellowships, church plants served by ordained church planters (both tent-makers and those sent out by a sponsoring church) and new congregations begun as second worship sites of existing parishes. It is so heartening to see how the vision for church planting is taking hold, as even some of our smallest churches are launching new congregations.

Please describe your discipline of prayer, study and worship.
I’m an early riser and I am nurtured and strengthened by my morning time in Scripture and prayer. I’ve been reading through the Bible each year for decades, following a number of different patterns. As part of my intercessions, I pray every week through a cycle for all of my diocese’s churches and all of the clergy, their spouses and children. My wife, Meg, and I usually read the Daily Office together and we’re presently doing a study of 1 John. I’m also reading a number of books on Islam to learn more about this critical challenge facing the Church in our day.

Please describe how you spend quality time with your wife and family. Describe what rests and rejuvenates you.

Meg travels with me to all our parish visitations, so I am blessed that we get to spend so much of our time together in ministry. I also enjoy just relaxing with her. We travel so much that we have discovered the importance of having regular days off on the road. We’ve been privileged to see fascinating and beautiful places as we visit churches across the country. I’m an extrovert, but I know that I need to be freed from being “on” and around people all the time. We’ve gone to museums and lots of botanical gardens (a particular love of Meg’s), we’ve taken long walks and we’ve just sat and enjoyed spectacular scenery.

We also used our frequent flier miles to great advantage. This past spring, we took our sons and their wives on a week’s holiday to our namesake island, the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel. It was such a wonderful experience for us—from hiking the cliff walks to laughing over board games. And we’ll be going back in 2011.

Read it all here.

UPDATE:  Here is the press release from the Anglican District of Virginia:

The Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) held a Constitutional Convention on May 20-21, 2011 at Church of the Epiphany in Herndon, Va. At this event, ADV delegates voted to petition the Anglican Church in North America to become a diocese and adopted new governing documents (Constitutions and Canons). Pending approval of the diocesan petition, the Anglican District of Virginia elected The Rt. Rev. John Guernsey to serve as bishop of the diocese, to be named the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

Bishop John Guernsey has served in various clergy roles during his years of ordained ministry in Virginia. He served as rector of All Saints’ Church in Dale City, Va., for 29 years before serving as the head of the Diocese of the Holy Spirit in the Anglican Church in North America. For more background on Bishop Guernsey and to read his vision statement for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, click here.

“Our hope is that the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, under the courageous and blessed leadership of Bishop John Guernsey, will continue to follow the path Christ is setting for us as we strive to grow and share our faith,” said Anglican District of Virginia Chairman Jim Oakes.

“In just a few years, we have grown to over 40 worshipping congregations, are planting churches, and have almost 7,000 people worshipping in our churches each Sunday. My prayer is that this new diocese within the Anglican Church in North America will make the trumpet sound even louder and bring more worshippers together in mission and ministry, continued Oakes.”

ADV is hopeful that the Anglican Church in North America will accept the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic as one of its member dioceses later this year. While the new diocese will be connected directly to the Anglican Church in North America, many of its congregations will continue to be in partnership with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). CANA is a missionary branch of the Church of Nigeria and a founding member of the Anglican Church in North America.

Anglican District of Virginia takes formal steps to join the Anglican Church of North America as a diocese

The Anglican District of Virginia, meeting in a special Constitutional Convention today, took formal steps to become the newest diocese in the Anglican Church in North America.  First bishop for the new diocese will be elected tomorrow.  Prayers are appreciated.  More info on the way - stay tuned!

BREAKING NEWS: Church of the Word reaches a settlement with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

This is the second Virginia Anglican parish to reach a settlement with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in recent weeks.  From Robin Adams and Church of the Word:

GAINESVILLE, VA – Church of the Word (COTW), one of a handful of Northern Virginia churches embroiled in a four-year long lawsuit with The Episcopal Church (TEC), will retain its church property after an out-of-court settlement signed Monday, April 18, released it from the pending litigation.
The leadership of COTW, which is a multiracial congregation made up of predominantly young families, is relieved to have achieved their major goals of separating from TEC, retaining their property, and preserving their tradition of worship and ministry.

Church of the Word is one of a number of formerly Episcopal congregations that had severed ties with the denomination over matters of doctrinal drift and novel pastoral practices. Upon breaking away from the denomination in December 2006, TEC filed a lawsuit against eleven Northern Virginia churches in an attempt to keep them from retaining their property. Currently, the next phase of this litigation will continue for the remaining seven churches with the commencement of a late-April 2011 trial in the Fairfax County, Virginia, Circuit Court.

COTW’s settlement allows it to keep its property, and now free of litigation, may concentrate on its vision, which is to ‘Encounter and Share Jesus Christ’. It does, however, require that COTW sever its affiliation with the newly established Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) for a period of five years.

COTW’s pastor, Rev. Robin Adams said, “This settlement allows us to keep the church building that was paid for by us, not the Episcopal Church. It also allows us to put this painful experience behind us and move on with ministering the love of Christ to a broken world. We will not lose our Anglican identity, though we may have to rethink how we do church in the short term.

Adams said the requirement to temporally disaffiliate from ACNA is one of the more difficult aspects of the settlement, but he remains positive.

“Our goal is to return to the ACNA fold when the disaffiliation period is completed as a stronger Christian body,” he said. “We’ll continue to worship in our accustomed manner, and for most of our members, this provision will not even be something they’ll notice in our day-to-day church ministry.”
Adams called the disaffiliation requirement “a failure to ‘respect the dignity of every human being,’ as the baptismal covenant says, and is certainly unchristian.”

“It is heartbreaking that The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia were unwilling to explore out of court settlement options with Church of the Word unless it severed all ties to its orthodox Anglican family,” ADV Chairman Jim Oakes said. “Church of the Word and all within the ADV have been seeking the Lord in prayer as we search for the best path forward. In spite of the separation mandate, we support the members of Church of the Word and they will remain our dear brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Church of the Word has believed all along that its property belonged to those who paid for it – the local congregation. The Episcopal Church, on the other hand, believes that all church assets within the denomination are held in trust for the national church, regardless of state property laws. An earlier court decision sided with the breakaway churches, but was then reversed upon appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court. The suit was returned to the circuit court for re-trial based on a different body of law in June 2010.

“We originally voted to leave the Episcopal Church in 2006 over theological and pastoral issue,” COTW’s former senior warden Dane Swenson said. “We felt the denomination had drifted away from basic Christian belief and practices. For example, Anglicans are supposed to hold that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, as opposed to just another possible option among many. And we believe that the Bible is the guiding authority for Christian doctrine, and must not be subservient to or shaped by the culture of the moment.”

Initially the denomination had provided a process by which the congregations could leave the denomination and maintain ownership of the properties they had purchased and maintained.

“Had the Diocese of Virginia stuck to its original agreement in its official ‘Protocol for Departing Congregations,’ then four years of expensive legal action could have been avoided,” Adams said. “Nevertheless we are thankful to have reached settlement with the diocese today.”

While Church of the Word is relieved to be able to keep its property, the congregation actually outgrew its facility long ago and has had to put building plans on hold during the years of uncertainty due to the litigation. Robin Adams says the church will develop its modest site to the best of its abilities, and will refocus on planning for the future.

“Any financial resources we might have saved toward expanding went toward our legal fees in this case,” COTW treasurer Robert Miller said. “Maybe there are people out there who think our stand against biblical compromise was worth the cost. Maybe they’ll help us raise the funds we need. You never know how God will work.”

With faith that God will supply the church’s need, Adams says it will establish a fund for anyone who might like to donate. He’s hoping like-minded friends still in the Episcopal Church might pledge a gift to help Church of the Word, even while they work for reform within that body.
“You never know unless you make your needs known,” Adams says.


Official Statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia:

April 19, 2011

Today the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church announced a settlement with Church of the Word (COTW), Gainesville, the second reached with one of the nine congregations that left the Episcopal Church in 2006 and then sought to retain Episcopal church property.  Church of Our Saviour, Oatlands reached a settlement on February 20.  "We are pleased to have reached another settlement, an important step toward enabling all involved to focus our shared energies on our important ministries," said the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of Virginia.

"This settlement has a set of unique circumstances that led the Diocese to allow COTW to retain Episcopal property," stated Henry D.W. Burt, secretary of the Diocese of Virginia.  "Changes in the immediate vicinity of the church, namely massive construction along Route 29 that eliminates direct access to the church, create significant challenges for any congregation in that space. Should COTW ultimately decide to relocate, the Diocese of Virginia has given them the certainty and control they need to determine what is best for the congregation and the day school they offer to the Gainesville community."

Under the agreement, the Diocese will retain $1.95 million from a payment by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for loss of value to the property as a result of the construction.  In exchange, COTW will retain the church building and personal property, and will be responsible for the mortgage on the property.  COTW will also retain $85,000 in cash from the VDOT payment and be permitted to negotiate for additional monies from VDOT.  In addition, COTW will voluntarily disaffiliate from the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) for a period of five years.  The pastor of COTW will be allowed to remain in the CANA healthcare plan and retirement plan, if permissible under the conditions of these benefit plans.

"This is a welcome and appropriate resolution for all involved," said Bishop Johnston. "It allows everyone to continue their important work while we will continue to preserve and expand the legacy of the Episcopal Church for future generations."

The trial on property issues for the remaining seven Episcopal Church properties will begin in the Fairfax Circuit Court on Monday, April 25.

Official Statement from the Anglican District of Virginia, which calls the settlement "heartbreaking":

FAIRFAX, Va. (April 19, 2010) – Anglican District of Virginia member parish Church of the Word in Gainesville, Va., has voted to take a settlement option presented by the Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church in the matter of their property. The settlement results in Church of the Word’s outright ownership of its property for future ministry. However, it will require Church of the Word to disaffiliate from the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV), the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), and any other Anglican entity for a period of at least five years.

“It is heartbreaking that The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia were unwilling to explore out of court settlement options with Church of the Word unless it severed all ties to its orthodox Anglican family. Church of the Word and all within ADV have been seeking the Lord in prayer as we search for the best path forward. In spite of the separation mandate, we support the members of Church of the Word and they will remain our dear brothers and sisters in Christ,” said ADV Chairman Jim Oakes.

“There’s no question: This litigation is a distraction from our mission and the good work our churches are doing every day to change lives. We never wanted a court battle in the first place and were saddened when amicable negotiations over properties that were purchased and maintained by our congregations were abruptly cut off.

“The litigation, which now involves seven parishes, does not define ADV and has not hindered our growth. In fact, we have grown to 32 member congregations and nine mission fellowships. We will continue to pray for a quick resolution to this matter as we look forward to the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection on Easter morning,” Oakes concluded.

Breaking News: Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia Russell V. Palmore, Jr. dies suddenly

Sorrowful news.  From the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, via email:

April 7, 2011

Mr. Russell V. Palmore Jr., chancellor of the Diocese since 1987, died today following cataract surgery. A long-time member of St. Paul's, Richmond, Mr. Palmore was a towering leader in the Church, both in the Diocese and within the greater Episcopal Church. "Today, the Diocese joins in mourning the loss of one of our greatest leaders," said the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop. "Russ was a tremendous example of loyalty and dedication to the Episcopal Church."

Mr. Palmore represented Virginia as a lay deputy to General Convention for eight consecutive triennial Conventions from 1988-2009, and was elected to serve as deputy to the 2012 Convention. A former member of the Standing Committee and the Board of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, he was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters by Virginia Theological Seminary in 2008.

"Russ maintained an unparalleled involvement in Church leadership throughout his life, back to the time that he served as a counselor and assistant director at St. George's Camp at Shrine Mont" said Bishop Johnston. "The Diocese of Virginia has been truly blessed by his continuous and unwavering support and work for the ministry of the Church."

Mr. Palmore was a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Virginia School of Law, and was a long-timer partner at the Richmond law firm of Mays & Valentine, later known as Troutman Sanders.

Please keep his wife, Susan, his daughters, grandson and the Palmore family in your thoughts and prayers. The Diocese will make available more information as soon as possible.


BB NOTE: Russ Palmore, among many of his accomplishments, was the chairman of the Bishop's Special Committee that wrote the Protocol for Departing Congregations. His steady hand and wise counsel at Diocesan Councils over the years was matchless.  He has also provided solid leadership on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church for many years. You can read more of his other accomplishments here.

May we remember Russ Palmore's wife and family, his parish, Bishop Johnston and Bishop Lee, and the members of Diocese of Virginia, in our prayers. This is a great loss.

Here is a statement from the Anglican District of Virginia:

“It was with sorrow that we learned of the death of Russell Palmore, Esq, Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. Russell was a Christian gentleman of the highest integrity with a great love for the church. He will be greatly missed. On behalf of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America and the Anglican District of Virginia, we send sincere condolences to his family and the Diocese of Virginia.”

The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns
Missionary Bishop
Convocation of Anglicans in North America

The Rt. Rev. David Bena
Contact Bishop
Anglican District of Virginia

James Oakes
Chairman
Anglican District of Virginia

UPDATE: The Diocese of Virginia has released information on the funeral arrangements - here it is:

The funeral for Chancellor Russell V. Palmore Jr., who died yesterday, will be held on Tuesday, April 12 at 4 p.m. at St. Paul's, Richmond, 815 E. Grace Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. The family will receive visitors on Monday, April 11 from 5-8 p.m., also at St. Paul's.

The Anglican District of Virginia announces two candidates for Bishop of new Anglican diocese

The Anglican District of Virginia announced today that The Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey and Archdeacon Julian Dobbs have been proposed for bishop have been proposed by the ADV nominations committee established by the 2009 ADV Synod.

The ADV Synod Council has called a Constitutional Convention for May 20 and 21, 2011, where the Synod will consider the proposed governing constitution and canons for a new diocese in the Anglican Church in North America. With the expected approval of the governing documents, there will immediately follow the election of the new bishop as established in the governing documents.

Following the election of a new bishop, the ADV will formally submit an application at the end of May to establish a new diocese in the Anglican Church in North America.

Currently, the Anglican District of Virginia numbers of 40 congregations with almost 7000 people actively worshiping in church each Sunday

The Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey is currently the bishop of the non-geographic Diocese of the Holy Spirit in the Anglican Church in North America.  The Venerable Julian Dobbs currently serves as the archdeacon for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).

Breaking News: CANA Church reaches settlement with The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia

The Church of our Saviour Oatlands (Virginia) has reached a settlement to end litigation with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church.  The congregation voted today to take the settlement offered by the diocese and the Episcopal Church and will surrender their property to the diocese.  They will then lease the property back from the diocese, but they must also disaffiliate from the Anglican District of Virginia, CANA, or any other Anglican entity.  The Diocese of Virginia also announced that the church w"has agreed that no bishop will visit the congregation without the permission of the Bishop of Virginia." All other claims made by The Diocese and the Episcopal Church against the Church of Our Saviour will be dropped.

“For many months, we have encouraged our congregations to pray for an end to this costly litigation,” said ADV Chairman Jim Oakes in an official statement.  “There has been a great deal of discussion and soul searching and we will continue to pray that His will be done. No matter the path Church of Our Saviour has chosen, they will remain our brothers and sisters in Christ and we pray for the opportunity to have continued fellowship together.”

“It is truly heartening for us to come to an agreement,” the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, Bishop of Virginia said in statement released by the diocese. “This settlement ensures that the legacy entrusted to the Episcopal Church continues, while providing a clear way forward for the Oatlands congregation.” 

The Church of our Savior was built in 1877 and consecrated in 1878 on land deeded by George and Kate Powell Carter of this historic Oatlands Plantation. Before the erection of the church, the small congregation worshipped in an abandoned blacksmith shop nearby. In 1903, Mr. and Mrs. William Corcoran Eustis built the parish house adjacent to the church.  The Rev. Elijah B. White has been rector since 1977.

The trial over remaining church properties is currently scheduled for April 25th in the Fairfax Circuit Cour, Judge Randy Bellows presiding.

UPDATE: Here is The Rev'd Elijah White's informative and heartfelt letter to his parish sent today that fills in more details of the settlement:

Dear Members and Friends of Our Saviour,

Today, February 20 in the Year of our Lord 2011, Septuagesima, our Parish voted for a future as significant as our initial formation under Oatlands Plantation's oak grove during the War between the States, construction of our church building in 1878 and parish hall in 1906, independence as a separate congregation no longer subservient under any larger parish in 1973, and our first full-time Rector in 1980.

With the unanimous endorsement of our Vestry, Officers and clergy, and a 10-1 endorsement by our voting members, we have this day settled the lawsuits filed against us by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in Richmond and by the national Episcopal Church in New York City.

I am not glad about this, but I heartily endorse these decisions, have spoken out in favor of them as the best arrangement obtainable in our current legal situation, and look forward to working energetically for our ongoing Christian mission together free from the burdens, distractions and costs of continued litigation. This frees us to put all our efforts into God's work.

Loudoun County appraises our property at $314,500. We have already spent some $400,000 in our own legal defense and contributions to our joint efforts with ADV-CANA.

Given an unfavorable decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia last June, and their sending our cases back to the Fairfax County Circuit Court to be retried individually under a different set of legal standards and criteria, our alternatives were either to negotiate the best settlement we could now or to spend another third of a million dollars and another 18-20 months in new litigation with a dubious chance of success when any Fairfax decision is sure to be appealed to that same Supreme Court of Virginia.

Recognizing that every agreement contains some points that each side likes and some that each side does not like, the terms of this settlement include the following:

· neither side admits to the validity of the other side's arguments, contentions, claims or assertions

· the Diocese of Virginia gains title to the real property and certain older items of personal property

· our Parish gains a lease of up to five years of full and free quiet enjoyment of all real and personal property, the Diocese being bound by this up-to-five-year agreement but our Parish being free to terminate it at any time upon thirty days notice

· our Parish will pay $500 per month while we occupy the premises {these payments will not come out of our Parish offerings nor budget - the full cost of a maximum five-year lease, $30,000, has already been paid into a separate account by an anonymous donor}

· our Parish will retain all our 1928 Prayer Books and 1940 Hymnals - our church organ and parish hall piano - all Eucharistic vestments and Altar hangings - all other clergy vestments - our Paschal Candlestick and Advent Wreath - our processional Cross and its accompanying wall plaque - our inlaid table in the entranceway - the big lectern King James Version Bible - the American flag Col. Mike Sweeney brought to us from Camp Fallujah in Iraq - the two cemetery benches given in memory of Anita - the silver lavabo bowl - and all of our Parish funds: no cash will go to the Episcopal Diocese nor to the national Episcopal Church

· any donor or contributor of a hand-worked kneeler, or any family member of such or of an individual in whose honor it was given, may identify and claim such a kneeler and take it

· anyone who wants a member moved from our cemetery or memorial wall can do so at any time until we leave the premises - the Parish offers to pay for such moves

· anyone who has a reservation in our cemetery or memorial wall and wants to use it can exercise that right at any time

· our congregation voted today to disaffiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America under the Province of Nigeria and its local Anglican District of Virginia, and may not affiliate nor serve under any other Anglican entity so long as we remain on our present premises - once we leave we are free to affiliate with whomever we may choose

I send this summary to you right away - more information will follow by e-mail and newsletter.

If you participated in the meeting after the 9.30 service last Sunday the 13th you saw that, although 26 people had attended the 8 o'clock and many were not at either service, we quite literally had standing-room only, the parking lot was full, the lawn half-full, more cars lined to dirt road out front, and one could hardly move in the parish hall afterward. If everyone were to come, we could not possibly accommodate them.

The fact is that we are in the process of outgrowing our beloved buildings - this is the Lord's own work, God giveth the increase, which is a growing problem for us but a very godly problem to have. Our Vestry and many knowledgeable members have been actively looking at potentially-suitable properties, and will continue to do so.

I love this place, these buildings I've served since 1948-49 when Janet Cobb's father brought me down as his Altar boy when he was Rector of S. James' Leesburg. Leaving them will hurt me very much, as I know it will many of you, but I am confident that we are doing both the best and the right thing in our complex circumstances of ending litigation and planning for growth.

Please pray for us all, as individuals for whom Christ died and rose again and as a congregation committed to His godly worship, His service, and the Faith once and for all delivered to the saints.

May the God we strive to serve bless, guide, guard, direct and prosper us all.

Faithfully yours in His service,

Lige

The Anglican District of Virgina prepares to call a bishop and become a Diocese in the Anglican Church in North America

The Anglican District of Virginia will focus forty days of prayer during the 2011 Lenten Season in preparation for the ADV Constitutional Convention. Here is the timeline as the Constitutional Convention approaches:

Here is the timeline for the preparation for the Constitutional Convention as outlined by the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV):

1. February 1, 2011 – The Synod Standing Committee on Constitution and Canons submits to the ADV Synod Council Draft of Proposed Amendments to ADV Constitution and Canons or Draft New Constitution and Canons;
2. February 15, 2011 – ADV Synod Council circulates to ADV member congregations above Drafts, with comments;
3. April 8, 2011 – Congregations submit proposed changes to Drafts to Synod Council; 
4. May 1, 2011 – Synod Council circulates to Constitutional Convention delegates Final Proposed ADV Constitution and Canons and any alternative proposed sections.

Once the ADV Constitution and Canons are adopted, they will serve as the authority for selecting our new Bishop and will accompany our application for admission as a new ACNA diocese. 

Here is more on the call for prayer, via email:

"40 Days of Prayer" is a common theme this time of year. As Anglicans, as Christians, we devote a period of 40 days during Lent to many things.

This year, we at the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) invite you to join us for 40 Days of Diocesan Prayer during the 2011 Lenten season beginning Ash Wednesday, March 9. This season leads up to an important ADV Constitutional Convention May 20-21, 2011, during which we will adopt our new constitution and canons (governing documents) and elect our new bishop as we seek admission as a new diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

Our new Bishop will be selected from a slate of up to three candidates who will stand for election immediately after adoption of the new ADV governing documents at the Constitutional Convention.

As we move towards the May 20-21 Constitutional Convention, ADV invites the attention, prayer and involvement of our 42 member congregations—40 Days of Diocesan Prayer—to guide our application to ACNA, consideration of our new governing documents, and the selection of a Bishop to lead us as a new ACNA diocese. The following weeks and months mark a pivotal time for ADV, as we articulate our growth and formation—essentially your growth and formation—into an Anglican diocese for the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. We continue to be humbled by the details and requirements for this growth, and look forward to God’s provision through your prayers and discernment.

Our current ADV Contact Bishop, Bishop David Bena, is providing a prayer below for use on Sunday mornings throughout Lent this year. We hope that the prayer will be read at all services during this season up through Easter Sunday, April 24, in preparation for the May 20-21 ADV Constitutional Convention. We look forward to updating you throughout the process and as to the outcome of the Convention.

More information about the formal process can be found here. If you are the communications contact for your parish, we encourage you to use the content herein and in the previous link to promote 40 Days of Diocesan Prayer in your parish publications and website as you are able.

Parish Prayer

Almighty and Everlasting Father, you have given the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever: Inspire, we pray, the clergy and delegates who will meet in council May 20, that the Anglican District of Virginia, being preserved in true faith and Godly doctrine, may make right choices regarding becoming a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America and in choosing a faithful bishop to lead us. May we fulfill all the mind of Him who loves us and gave Himself for us, your Son Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

To learn more about the Anglican District of Virginia, click here.

In Good Faith

Judge Randy Bellows of the Fairfax County Circuit Court has set April 25 - June 14, 2011 as the dates for the trial of the litigation between The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Diocese of Virginia and nine churches who voted to separate from the Diocese of Virginia and join the Convocation of Anglicans North America (now affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America) in 2006.

In addition, Judge Bellows ruled that it would be a bench trial instead of a jury trial asked by the Virginia congregations. Judge Bellows also ruled against the proposal by the Diocese and TEC to split the trial into multiple sections where the churches would be addressed together as a group and then separated church by church. In addition, Judge Bellows ruled that Church of Our Saviour Oatlands would not be separated from the other Virginia congregations but would be part of the April-June trial. Church of Our Saviour had not sought a jury trial.

The form the trial will take will begin with The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia presenting their case, followed by the Virginia congregation responding and presenting their counter case, followed by TEC and the Diocese presenting their rebuttal and opposing the counter suit, followed by the Virginia congregations presenting their rebuttal as well as their rebuttal to the opposition of their counter suit. It sounded as though final arguments may be presented by brief. Judge Bellows then would rule on the entire case perhaps some time in June.

There were several things that struck me about the court hearing last Friday. First of all, I have never seen the Episcopal Presiding Bishop's personal chancellor David Booth Beers speak or smile to anyone in the Virginia congregations in all the times we have gathered together. But this Friday he was sitting next to the Diocese of Virginia's Chancellor Russ Palmore and at one point, noticed that Bishop David Bena, CANA Suffragan Bishop for the Anglican District of Virginia and former Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, had come into the court room. Before the hearing began, David Booth Beers got up from his front row seat and walked over to the opposite side of the court room and to the back and warmly greeted Bishop Bena. Bishop Bena returned the warm greeting. I later learned that back in the early days of Bishop Bena's ministry he was in the Military Chaplain's office at 815 and got to know David Booth Beers who even then was the chancellor.

Similar types of outreach happened following the hearing when attorneys from the Diocese of Virginia greeted the CANA attorneys, exchanging pleasantries beyond the casual nod. This was a marked change even from the last hearing when there were some barbs exchanged during and after the proceedings.

Another highlight - possibly because Judge Bellows said it more than once - was that he announced that he was going to proceed through the preparations for the trial and during the trial itself "in good faith,"and urged the parties to do as well.  It was a rather interesting phrase considering who is populating his court room. He repeated this more than once - that he would assume that all the parties were operating in good faith and not seeking to undermine the other, but assume the best of one another. He said he would continue to assume that all the parties were operating in good faith with each other until he saw differently, in which case he would intervene.

It came across to me that he was saying - quite strongly in fact - that counsel from both sides should follow his direction and assume that all were operating in good faith. One might think at first that such a view would be naive, until you pause a moment and realize that if he is led to think differently, he has the authority to take this case in any direction he deems fit. He has the authority, in his way, to basically direct the parties now to operate in good faith. If they don't, it will be at their own peril.

Since he repeated himself on this particular point - holding back from stipulating certain rulings on the assumption that the parties would operate in good faith with each other - it seemed to drive home to me the point that it was as though he was chastening both parties that this is how he was going to operate and they would be wise to do the same.

I have been pondering that phrase, "Good Faith" all weekend, especially in light of work now underway by lay leaders in Virginia to find a way forward toward resolution. Bona Fides is Latin for "in good faith." Wiki states that "Good Faith" is "good, honest intention ... or belief. In law, it is the mental and moral state of honesty, conviction as to the truth or falsehood of a proposition or body of opinion, or as to the rectitude or depravity of a line of conduct. This concept is important in law, especially equitable matters."

Webster Dictionary defines bona fides as "evidence of one's good faith or genuineness." What this says to me is that it's not just what is presented in court, but how it is presented. And if we are able to restore this view - that all parties are operating in good faith - could that not bring us back to the table to find common ground resolution that would build us all up for mission as members of the same faith family?

After all this time - as we see here at the Cafe from time to time - good faith has taken a hard hit over the years. One could point to reasons why this may be, but as Judge Bellows said - at this point, right now, right where we stand can we pledge to operate in good faith, seeing as marks of that trust evidence of genuineness and honesty?

How would such a thing happen? The reality seems so far away, as the comments on the earlier post and other sites that have picked up that post reveal. I know of only one way - and that it to reorient ourselves to a new disposition, one that comes to us in who's name we carry. This can't be done by will power alone, the wounds go deep and even the bravest among us would be challenged to have such a will.

It is interesting to think about how God operates in good faith, even knowing who he is dealing with. Even the famous words of John come to mind, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son ..." It wasn't that we deserved it or had earned the right to have a savior, not by a long shot. But it was because he loved us that he found a way to bring resolution between himself and the world - he took the initiative. Our response is as John writes, "that whosoever believes in him ..." Do we dare to believe?

Where do we begin? Perhaps with the one who is the most genuine and honest, who Paul describes so well in the 13th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. Oh that we may love one another like that.



Perhaps this Christmas may open our minds and hearts in ways we never could have imagined. May it be so.

Coalition forming for a win-win settlement in Virginia

As the next round of litigation is heating up in Virginia on the fate of nine church properties, a coalition of prayerful Episcopalians and Anglicans is forming to pray and seek ways to find an amicable settlement between the The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and nine Anglican churches. "Virginia Laity for a Win-Win Settlement" has all ready launched their website called "Seeking Common Ground in Common Prayer" that aims to provide helpful information, encouragement, and insight on how the different sides in the Virginia litigation between the Episcopal Church/Diocese of Virginia and nine Anglican churches that voted to separate from The Episcopal Church four years might approach a "win-win" settlement.

Virginia Laity for a Win-Win Settlement are "Virginian lay members of Episcopal and Anglican parishes who believe that the current litigation between the Anglican District of Virginia, the Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church (TEC) must end," they write at Seeking Common Prayer in Common Prayer.  The organizers of the website/blog are Kathryn Peyton, a member of St Francis Episcopal Church in Great Falls, and Dan Van Ness, a member of Truro Church in Fairfax.

What are some of the reasons why a win-win settlement is the best alternative to prolonged and costly litigation?  From the blog:

There are lots of reasons for looking for a win-win settlement:

1. Litigation costs money we could be spending on mission. 
2. Litigation turns people into enemies. We all have heard of situations where a dispute between neighbors divided the neighborhood when the case went to court, or when families were split apart by a bitter divorce. The same thing can happen in parishes as we have learned in the four places where there are both Episcopal and ADV congregations.
3. Litigation between Christians causes scandal.  1 Cor 6:7 says, “The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already.” As former Secretary of State James A Baker has said, “Squabbling over church assets is the wrong way to resolve this impasse. The predictable result of continuing this battle will be public conflict without end in sight, to the utter dismay of most Episcopalians.”
4. Win-win settlement allows creative solutions. Courts must apply the law and the result can be unsatisfactory. For example, some of the pieces of property in dispute have multiple deeds. It is possible that a judge or jury would determine that the wording of the deeds means some parcels belong to one side and others belong to the other. Furthermore, in negotiating a win-win settlement it is possible to find solutions to problems created by the separation that aren’t even part of the litigation (like figuring out how to deal with the conflicting claims to be part of the Anglican Communion).
5. Win-win settlement is faster. If there is a trial for this second phase of the litigation it is possible there will be no judgment until Summer 2011. The appeal process took an additional 18 months in the first phase, so litigation may not be over until 2013 or later. While we might need the help of a mediator to do it, negotiation could produce a win-win settlement by Spring 2011.

Here at the Cafe we are very excited by the forming of this coalition and pray that it will flourish.  Learn more about how you can join this effort by clicking here or here. To God be the glory.

LIVE from the Anglican District of Virginia Synod

Bishop Nazair Ali strongly critical of proposed Anglican Communion "standing committee" calling it outside the apostolic faith and ministry.  Gives overview of of Anglican mission and ministry firmly rooted in the Bible and Apostolic ministry.

Greetings from lovely Herndon, Virginia - it's a bright and sunny and blue sky day here as delegates fill the Church of Epiphany for the annual synod of the Anglican District of Virginia.  As I write now, Bishop Michael Nazir Ali, former Church of England bishop of Rochester and candidate for Archbishop of Canterbury, is speaking to the Synod.  He is speaking on what is radical discipleship in the church today.

He is speaking on the Anglican tradition, affirming the centrality of the Bible in deciding what is the apostolic faith, as well as as affirming the apostolic ministry that serves the apostolic faith.  If there is just an emphasis on the apostolic ministry, the question arises if the ministry is being guarded.  And if you just have the apostolic ministry, how is the apostolic faith being kept alive?  In the Anglican tradition Bishop Nazir Ali sees the blending of these two into one - keeping them both together, both Catholic and Protestant.

He urged the delegates not to abandon the apostolic faith (based in scripture) or the apostolic ministry (the ministry of bishops).

He emphasized the importance of gathering together in council to make decisions together, to decide to together what affects us all.  Once it is clear that something affects us all, we need to gather together in every manifestation of the church to decide together.

We have found our selves in the situation where the Anglican Communion has not been able to decide together those things we need to decide together, as well as exercising discipline together in love, for the sake of restoration - there can be no drawing back at every level of the church.

He also said that even in meetings such as GAFCO, we must model working together to make decision, including working with our bishops.

He also spoke of the Anglican Covenant - the draft that has successively been brought forward has excellent theology, but when we come to Section IV all that disappears.  We now have "an animal" called a "standing committee" - which he, besides his best efforts, does not understand.  Can not see how any bodies any where will ever agree on anything following the present draft of Section IV. 

UPDATED: The church must be:

• Confessional
• Councilor
• Consistorial

We must say that we are people of revelation, that is to say that we do not believe that our faith is simply about the human expression for religiosity (for example, the values of the English people).  No, it is the values of the Gospel.  This revelation is inscribed on human hearts and minds, in spite of the fall of human rebellion, it is still there.  It is inscribed in the nature of the universe.  Christians should not make the mistake that Hawking makes between what is descriptive and what is the cause.

Jesus has revealed himself in the history of people, Bishop Nazir Ali said.  If you want to know whether a vision or word is from God, you test it against the revelation of Jesus Christ.  We are also people who want to relate this revelation to the world.

He spoke of what he felt was the most remarkable spiritual experience at GAFCON, that he didn't expect it, but found it.  The future is not to get into structure and organization and institutionalization, but to be aware of how God has constant renewed the church to move - movements that change the way we do things.

If we say we are people of revelation, if we say we relate that revelation to God's world around, and if we say we are people of the renewal, that means that we are saying the great tradition in which we stand, where the scriptures are the norm, they provide the motor for the mission of the church - nothing more and nothing less.  We are saying as people of the Bible, we are not simply to come together in holy huddles (comforting as that is) - not just about that, but to be driven out into the world for the sake of the Gospel.  This may be God's way of releasing us for God's mission as he has done in the past.

10:30 a.m. - Bishop Nazir Ali is now taking questions from the synod.  The Church is a servant to the world, not it's master.  Bishops, as he calls it Apostolic ministry, are to be servants - not the master.  Anglican tradition is unique in bringing together the necessity of the sufficiency of the scripture and the task of the apostolic ministry in the service of the scriptures.

The sign of hope - the movements he sees are underway, student movements, renewal movements.

He is now answering questions as diverse from Melanie Philips commentary on prolife issues, to the proposed changes in English law to include recognition of Sharia laws in Great Britain.

The Q&A was followed by the celebration of the Eucharist, Bishop Martyn Minns celebrating, Bishop John Guernsey leading the prayers, Bishop Dave Bena preaching on the Holy Spirit, and Bishop Michael Nazir Ali pronouncing the blessing. 

It is interesting to reflect on Bishop Nazir Ali's exhortation  on the "apostolic" ministry as the second defining element of the Anglican tradition (and not the Book of Common Prayer).  Here in Virginia, the ministry of bishops has been received (though after the disestablishment of the church following the American Revolution, a significant majority of parishes abandoned the episcopal ministry in favor of a less structured local model that became to the most part Baptist congregations.  Even with that, when the Episcopal diocese formed, the bishop's role was great reduced compared to the role as defined in the Church of England.  Even today amongst Virginia evangelicals, the ecclesiastical office would not be named to be nearly on par as scripture, though Bishop Nazir Ali makes a compelling case for it, when bishops fulfill that role.

It is also interesting to note his opposition to the so-called "standing committee" in the Anglican Communion which basically seems to want to usurp the role traditionally held by the primates and perhaps even the ACC and Lambeth.  It does seem to be elevating itself over the other instruments of unity as defined in the Windsor Report.  We've all ready seen rather questionable practices from the current self-created "Joint Standing Committee" which all ready seems to be morphing into the Standing Committee and how easily it has been to manipulate the rules to keep the status quo, according to the Anglican Communion Institute.  The result has been the resignation of the Global South primates from that committee - not something to take lightly.

LATER: As so often happens, these gatherings are a fun time of seeing old friends and making new friends.  Each year the synod gets bigger and this year is no exception. This synod will see a resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention next year as the ADV prepares to join the Anglican Church in North America as a diocese and elect its own bishop. Here in this photo on the right was have Karen Rummel, Alpha DC Regional Director. with Simon and Caryn Dixon who have just come over from Holy Trinity Brompton, London, to join the staff of The Falls Church.

Anglican District of Virginia Synod Opens this Saturday: Advancing the Anglican Church Together

via email:

FAIRFAX, Va. (September 29, 2010) – The Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) will hold its fourth annual synod on Saturday, October 2. The meeting will bring together clergy and lay delegates from all ADV churches and is centered on the theme of “Advancing Together: Laying hold of the hope God sets before us.”

“We are eager to join again with our Anglican brothers and sisters to address the next wave of goals God has set before us.  The Anglican District of Virginia is blessed to celebrate its annual meeting as orthodox Christianity continues its vibrant growth across the nation. The theme of this year’s meeting will focus on how ADV can grow together by serving communities both at home and abroad and reaching the unchurched through the power of Christ,” said ADV Chairman Jim Oakes.

Among the highlights on the agenda, attendees will hear from keynote speaker Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, former bishop of Rochester in the Church of England and a world renowned leader in the emerging dialogue between Christianity and Islam.

Participants will be able to attend breakout sessions on healing prayer, overseas missions, Islam, and church planting and growth. ADV’s Diocesan Taskforce will also discuss their exploration into becoming a diocese within the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

During the meeting, time has been allotted a report from The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) and for welcoming ADV’s newest congregations.

The eight new congregations that have joined ADV since last year’s meeting include: St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Charlotte, N.C., Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Bowie, Md., Winchester Anglican Church, Winchester, Va., Epiphany Anglican, Williamsburg, Va., Eternity Anglican, Richmond, Va., Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, Nags Head, N.C., La Communidad de Hispana, Fairfax, Va., and the Anglican Fellowship in Washington, Washington, D.C.

The meeting begins at 7:30 am on Saturday, October 2 with registration and will be held at Church of the Epiphany, 3301 Hidden Meadow Drive, Herndon, Va.


Event highlights:
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali’s Keynote Address - 9:30 am ET (Free and open to all.)